How blinds work in Texas Hold’em, and why they keep going up
By EggVerse · · 6 min read
Blinds are two forced bets posted before any cards are dealt in Texas Hold’em. The player to the dealer’s left puts in the small blind, usually half the big blind, and the next player puts in the big blind. Because there is already money in the middle, every hand is worth fighting for, and nobody can wait forever for perfect cards. The blinds move one seat to the left each hand, so everyone pays them equally over time.
The button, the small blind and the big blind
Hold’em uses a marker called the dealer button. Even when one person or a computer does the actual dealing, the button shows who is in the dealer position for this hand. After each hand it moves one seat clockwise, and the blinds move with it.
| Seat | Before the cards | When they act |
|---|---|---|
| Button (dealer) | Nothing | Last on the flop, turn and river, the best seat at the table |
| Small blind | Posts the small blind | Near the end before the flop, first after it |
| Big blind | Posts the big blind | Last before the flop, second after it |
| Under the gun | Nothing | First to act before the flop |
The blinds are live bets. If everyone just calls the big blind, the big blind may still check or raise when the action comes back. And if everyone folds to the big blind, they win the small blind without a fight.
Heads up is the exception. With only two players left, the button posts the small blind and the other player posts the big blind. The button acts first before the flop and last after it. This catches out a lot of home games when a table shrinks to two.
Why blinds go up
In a cash game, the blinds usually stay the same, and players can leave or buy more chips whenever they like. In a tournament, or any game where you keep playing until one person has every chip, the blinds rise on a schedule. That schedule is what makes the game end. If they never went up, two careful players could fold for hours.
Rising blinds also change how you should play. A stack of 500 chips is a lot when the big blind is 10, and very little when it is 160. What matters is not your chip count but how many big blinds you have. Some tournaments add antes, a small forced bet from every player, at later levels to push the action further. Home games vary, so agree on the schedule before the first hand.
Playing with a short stack
Short stack is a loose term, but many players use it once they are down to roughly fifteen big blinds or fewer. At that point a normal raise and then a fold commits too much of what you have left. Common advice for short stacks includes:
- Count in big blinds. Divide your chips by the current big blind before every decision, especially just after the blinds go up.
- Prefer going all in to small raises. With very few big blinds, one shove gives others a hard decision and gives you a chance to win the blinds outright.
- Act before the blinds reach you. Every orbit costs you one small and one big blind, so waiting for a premium hand can quietly halve your stack.
- Notice the other short stacks. A player with even fewer chips than you is often looking for a spot to go all in, and a bigger stack can call with a wider range.
- You cannot be forced out by a blind. If you have fewer chips than the blind, you post what you have and are all in for that hand, playing only for the part of the pot you can match.
None of this is a rule. It is a starting point, and good players adjust to the table in front of them.
How the blinds work on the EggVerse table
You can practise all of this in Texas Hold’em on EggVerse, which plays like a small tournament with free table chips and no real money. Each player starts with 500 chips, the dealer button moves every hand, and the blinds double every five hands until one egg holds all the chips.
| Hands | Small / big blind | 500 chips is |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | 5 / 10 | 50 big blinds |
| 6 to 10 | 10 / 20 | 25 big blinds |
| 11 to 15 | 20 / 40 | 12.5 big blinds |
| 16 to 20 | 40 / 80 | About 6 big blinds |
| 21 to 25 | 80 / 160 | About 3 big blinds |
| 26 to 30 | 160 / 320 | Under 2 big blinds |
| 31 onward | 320 / 640 | Less than 1 big blind |
The right column shows why the pace matters. Nobody keeps exactly 500 chips, but if you sit back through the first twenty hands, you reach the short stack zone fast. The early levels are the time to see flops cheaply; by the middle levels, the short stack advice above starts to apply. Blinds stop rising at 320 and 640, and with two players left the button posts the small blind, as in standard heads up play.
To try it, play solo against three bots, or open a friends table for two to eight players and share the invitation. Each hand, the seat labels mark who holds the dealer button (D), the small blind (SB) and the big blind (BB), so you can see the blinds coming toward you.
Is the small blind always half the big blind?
Usually, but not always. Some games use blinds like 25 / 50 and others use uneven pairs such as 10 / 25. On the EggVerse table it is always half.
Do the blinds count toward a call?
Yes. The big blind has already put in one big blind, so calling a raise only costs the difference.
What happens if the big blind has fewer chips than the blind?
They post everything they have and are all in. They can only win the part of the pot they matched; anything above that forms a side pot.
How often should blinds go up in a home game?
There is no single rule. Faster increases end the game sooner. Pick a schedule before you start and stick to it.
Still learning which hand wins? Read poker hand rankings from royal flush to high card. For the buttons and flow of a hand, see how to play Texas Hold’em online with friends.